Tina

"Slave master... slave ship..." Longinus's eyes darted about as his killing intent surged. To him, those few words were an absolute taboo that could never be mentioned.

Seeing that several iron balls had already been launched high into the air, Longinus lightly stomped on the Sea King beneath his feet and said indifferently, "Dive into the sea... destroy the ships."

In the Sea King's terrifying, millstone-sized eyes, a humanlike look of fear actually appeared. In an instant, its enormous body completely melded into the surging sea.

The gunners of the Jacks Pirates rubbed their eyes in disbelief. What was going on? That Sea King had actually dived into the sea before the cannonballs landed. Was it simply unbelievably lucky... or did it possess human intelligence?

If it was the former, then it was nothing to worry about. But if it was the latter... the few gunners no longer dared imagine what would happen next!

"Captain, Captain..." The pirate who had delivered the order cautiously approached his captain. "That Sea King dived into the sea, and our bombardment missed."

Jacks did not really care. It was only an extra treat anyway. "It got away? Then consider that Sea King lucky. Forget about it for now. Everyone, pay close attention. Don't let Louis burn down the ship in desperation. Those are war supplies prepared by the Hisca Kingdom for the coming war. That's the real big deal!"

Seeing that the pirate who had delivered the message still had not left, Jacks said unhappily, "Stop dawdling. If you have something to say, spit it out."

"Cap... Captain, according to our observations, that Sea King seemed to have sensed danger before... before diving into the sea. If it really possesses intelligence and plans to ram our ship from beneath the sea, then we'll..."

"Idiot, did a fish eat your brain? How could that kind of beast possibly possess intelligence? Besides, my Black Undead was made from..." A cruel smile appeared at the corner of Jacks's mouth. He reached for his waist again and was just about to draw his thick, black, oversized weapon when the ship began to shake violently.

Every tremendous impact against the bottom of the ship sounded like thunder striking the hearts of the pirates. The cracks spreading across the hull also seemed to be fear itself, continuously creeping through the hearts of every pirate.

"It's him! It's him! That Sea King has come back for revenge!" The pirate who had spoken was already so frightened that he had collapsed onto the deck.

"Hold steady! We can win..." Jacks shouted, trying to stabilize the pirates' morale. However, the sudden sound of the hull exploding nearly scared his soul out of his body. He hurriedly hugged the mast and shouted for help, "Idiots, get the other ships over here! I'm a Devil Fruit user! Do you want me to fall into the sea and drown?"

Jacks's influence still lingered, so the underlings on the other ships quickly maneuvered their vessels over. However, a tail that suddenly lashed out of the sea instantly smashed the rescue ships into pieces.

Those ordinary ships were no match for the flagship. They could not withstand even a single blow from that monster's tail, and the other ships fled far away in terror.

"You..." Jacks was so furious that he nearly felt his lungs explode. Deep down, he even began to believe that the Sea King had truly come for revenge.

Seeing that his subordinates had abandoned him, Jacks hardened his heart. He hugged the mast floating on the sea with one hand and drew a pistol from his waist with the other, firing into the water.

The bullet, trailing a long tongue of flame, was amplified to an unimaginable speed the moment it left the barrel. It pierced through the seawater and flew toward the shadow beneath the surface.

This was the ability granted by the Amplify-Amplify Fruit, a lesser version of the More-More Fruit wielded by the Great Pirate Waldo, the World Breaker, who had once ruled the seas ten years ago.

Unfortunately, the More-More Fruit performed multiplication, while his Amplify-Amplify Fruit performed addition.

Although it had pierced through the resistance of the seawater, by the time the bullet struck the Sea King, it was barely stronger than a pebble.

In the next moment, a thick serpent's tail descended like the punishment of the Sea God, smashing Jacks's last foothold to pieces beneath his desperate, unwilling gaze.

The remaining pirate ships scattered and fled like startled birds, not daring to linger for even a moment.

In the distance, Louis's fleet could hardly believe its eyes. What was going on? The imposing Jacks Pirates had fallen apart in an instant, and the one that had helped them escape their predicament was actually a Sea King?

Of course, Louis's fleet did not lower its guard. Such a vicious beast knew no distinction between friend and foe. They might be the next unlucky ones.

"General Louis, what should we do? Should we take advantage of the Sea King still being on the surface and kill it quickly?"

The Sea Kings of the open sea were invincible. This was a consensus shared by everyone, and the fate of the Jacks Pirates had proven it.

"No, don't act rashly!" Louis took a deep breath and made this difficult decision.

He had no confidence that he could kill this Sea King before it dived into the depths, so he chose to avoid provoking the evil spirit of the sea as much as possible.

"Is this huge fellow a Sea King? The scenery on the sea really is so different from the scenery on the island!"

A gentle, sweet voice rang out behind him, and Louis, who had remained calm and composed until now, suddenly changed expression. "My little angel, why did you come out? Hurry back to the cabin!"

The adorable little girl with short pink hair said unhappily, "Tina isn't a child anymore. Besides, Tina saw the whole naval battle earlier. Dad, you were absolutely pathetic!"

"Absolutely pathetic... pathetic... tic..." The words echoed beside his ears like a demonic chant. The despised father wore an utterly lifeless expression. To any daughter-obsessed father, those words were no different from taking a thousandfold critical hit.

The "ferocious-looking" Sea King gradually approached. The shadow beneath its enormous body even covered most of the ship. The soldiers of Louis's fleet were sweating nervously. If not for their strict military discipline and absolute obedience to orders, someone might already have done something irrational under the immense pressure.

When the Sea King opened its enormous maw, seemingly about to swallow both the people and the ship in one bite, the kingdom's soldiers felt their hearts sink. Louis's right hand also moved to the hilt at his waist, preparing to kill it with an Iaido Slash before it dived into the sea.

Just then, a figure leaped out of the Sea King's mouth and landed steadily on the deck before them.

The "ferocious-looking" Sea King lowered its upright body until it was level with the deck. Its vicious eyes actually revealed a humanlike look of ingratiation, and it made a series of grunting sounds. To Louis, it looked... it looked like a puppy waiting for its master's praise.

"Well done... you can go now!" Longinus nodded. As the first Sea King to escape from his grasp, it could brag about this experience for at least a year after returning.

The Sea King gave a joyful cry, slapped the surface of the sea with its thick tail, and dived into the water at the fastest speed of its life, swimming toward the boundless depths.

Anyone capable of becoming the kingdom's Guardian Deity was naturally no fool. Louis had already roughly deduced what had happened. Although he did not know why the youth before him could tame a Sea King, nor why the youth had chosen to help them, that did not stop him from expressing his gratitude.

If this youth had not appeared, he could not imagine what kind of fate would have awaited him, his fleet, his homeland, and Tina!

Beside Louis, Tina blinked her adorable, wide eyes. This big brother, who looked only a few years older than her, actually had the ability to tame Sea Kings?

I'm so jealous. I want to learn that!